AMERICAN HISTORYSECTION II

(Suggested writing time--40 minutes)

1. President Franklin D. Roosevelt is commonly thought of as a liberal and President Herbert C.Hoover as a conservative. To what extent are these characterizations valid?

Document A

Source: Candidate Herbert Hoover, speech, New York, New York (October 22,1928)

"It is a false liberalism that interprets itself into the government operation of commercial business.Every step of bureaucratizing of the business of our country poisons the very roots of liberalism-thatis, political equality, free speech, free assembly, free press, and equality of opportunity. It is the road notto more liberty, but to less liberty. Liberalism should be found not striving to spread bureaucracy butstrivin;g to set bounds to it. ...

"I do not wish to be misunderstood in this statement. I am defining a general policy. It does not meanthat our government is to part with one iota. of its national, resources without complete protection to ,thepublic interest. ...

"Nor do I wish to be misinterpreted as believing that the United States is free-far-all and devil take thehindmost. The very essence of equality of opportunity and of American individualism is that there shallbe no domination by any group or combination in this republic,whe~her it be business or political.On the contrary, it demands economic justice as well as political and social justice. It is no system oflaissez faire .... -

"Years ago the Republican administration established the principle that such evils could be correctedby regulation. It developed methods by which abuses could be prevented while the full value of indus­trial progress could be retained for the public. It insisted upon the principle that when great publicutilities were clothed with the security of partial monopoly, whether it be railways, power plants,

. telephones, or what not, then-there must be the fullest and most complete control of rates, services,and finances by government or local agencies. It declared that these businesses must be conductedwith glass pockets .... "

Document B

Source: President Herbert Hoover, second annual message to Congress (December 2, 1930)

"... Economic depression cannot be cured by legisl<!tive action or executive pronouncement. ...The best contribution of government lies in encouragement of this voluntary cooperation in thecommunity. The government-national, state, and local-can join with the community in suchprograms and do its part.

"As a contribution to the situation the federal government is engaged uEon the greatest programof waterway, harbor, flood control, public building, highway, and airway improvement in allour history. This, together with loans to merchant shipbuilders, improvement of the navy and inmilitary a,y,!ation,and other construction work of the government will exceed $520,000,000 for thisfiscal year: This compares with $253,000,000 in the fiscal year 1928. The construction works alreadyauthorized and the continuation of policies in government aid will require a continual expendituJ;eupwards of half a billion'dollars annually. .

"1 favor still further temporary expansion of these activities in aid to unemployment during thiswinter, The Congress will, however, have presented to it numbers of projects, some of them underthe guise of, rather than the reality of, their usefulness 'in the increase of employment during thedepression. There are certain common-sense limitations upon any expansions of construction work.The government must not undertake works that are not of sound economic purpose and that havenot'been subject to searching technical investigation, and· which have not been given adequateconsideration by the Congress. The volume of construction work in the Government is already atthe maximum limit warrar:-ted by financial prudence as a continuing policy." .

Document C

Source: President Herbert Hoover, statement to the press (February 3,1931)

"It is not an issue as to whether people shall go hungry or cold in the United States. It is solely aquestion of the best method by which hunger and cold shall be prevented ....

"And there is a practical problem in all this. The help being daily extended by neighbors, by localand national agencies, by municipalities, by industry and a great multitude of organizationsthroughout the country today is many times any appropriation yet proposed. The opeI1ing of thedoors of the federal treasury is likely to stifle this giving and thus destroy far more re$'ources thanthe proposed cbarity from the government. ...

"To reinforce this work at the opening of Congress, 1 recommended large appropriations for loansto rehabilitate agriculture from the drought and provision of further large sums for public worksand construction in the drought territory, which would give employment in further relief to thewhole situation ... to increase federal construction work from a rate of about $275,000,000 a yearprior to the depression to a rate now of over $750,000,000 a year ....

"{ have indeed spent much of my life in fighting hardship and starvation both abroad and in the

Southern States. 1do not feel that 1should be charged with lack of human sympathy for those whosuffer ....

"1 am willing to pledge myself that if the time should ever come that the voluntary agencies of thecountry together with the local and state governments are unable to find resources with which toprevent hunger and suffering in my country, 1 will ask the aid of every resource of the federalgovernment because 1would no more see starvation amongst our countrymen than would anysenator or congressman. 1have faith in the American people that such a day will not come."

Document D

Source: J. N. ("Ding") Darling in the Des Moines Register (December 18, 1931)Reprinted by permission of the Des Moines Register and Tribune Company-all rights reserved.

Of course we are all keeping our heads and doing all we can to help.

Document E

Source: Candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt, speech, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (October 19, 1932)

"For ·over two years our federal government has experienced unprecedented deficits, in spite ofincreased taxes ....

" ... you can never expect any important economy from this [Hoover] administration. It is commit­ted to the idea that we ought to center control of everything in Washington as rapidly as possible­federal control. That was the idea that increased the cost of government by a billion dollars in fouryears .... ' ~~,'

" ... I shall approach the p.r:oblemof carrying out the plain precept of our party, which is to reducethe cost of current federal government operations by 25 percent. ....

"In accordance with this fundamental policy it is necessary to eliminate from federalbudge~-making during this emergency all new items except such as relate to direct reliefof unemployment. ...

"I have sought to make two things clear: first that we can make savings by reorganization ofexisting departments, by eliminating functions, by abolishing many of those innumerable boardsand those commissions ... to total many hundreds and thousands of dollars a year.

"Second, I hope thatit will not be necessary to increase the present scale of taxes ....

"The above two categorical statements are aimed at a definite balancing of the budget. At the sametime, let me repeat from now to election day so that every man, woman, and child in the UnitedStates will know what I mean: if starvation and dire need on the part of any of our citizens makenecessary the appropriation of additional funds which would keep the budget out of balance, Ishall not hesitate to tell the American people the full truth and ask them to authorize the expendi­ture of that ads:litional amount. ... "

Document F

Source: US Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970~Bicentennial Edition, Part 2(1975)

UNITED· STATES GOVERNMENT FINANCES, 1929-1941(in billions of dollars)

. Surplus orTotal PublicFiscal Year ExpendituresDeficit ( ---:)Debt

,,~\

1929$3.127$0.734$16.9

19303.3200.73816.2

19313.577- 0.46216.8

19324.659- 2.73519.5

19334.598- 2.60222.5

19346.645-3.63027.1

19356.497- 2.79128.7

19368.422- 4.42533.8

19377.733- 2.77736.4

19386.765- 1.17737.2

19398.841-3.86240.4

19409.589- 2.71043.0

194113.980- 4.77844.0

Document G

Source: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, speech, Syracuse, New York (September 29, 1936)

" ... Who is there in America who believes that we can run the risk of turning back our govern­ment to the old leadership which brought it to the brink of 1933? Out of the strains and stresses ofthese years we have come to see that the true conservative is the man who has a real concern forinjustices and takes thought against the day of reckoning. The true conservative seeks to protectthe system of private property and free enterprise by correcting such injustices and inequalities asarise from it. The most serious threat to our institutions comes from those who refuse to face the

need for change. Liberalism becomes the protection for the far-sighted conservative.

"Never has a nation made greater strides in the safeguarding of democracy than we have madeduring the past three years. Wise and prudent men'-intelIigent conservatives-have long knownthat in a changing world wOJ"thyinstitutions can be conserved only by adjusting them to thechanging time. In the words of the great essayist, 'The voice of great events is proclaiming to us.Reform if you would preserve.'

"I am that kind of conservative because I am that kind of liberal."

Document H

Source: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, speech, Washington, D.C (March 4~1937)

" ... We are celebrating the 1936 victory. That was not a final victory. It was a victory whereby ourparty won further opportunity to lead in the solution of the pressing problems that perplex ourgeneration. Whether we shall celebrate in 1938,1940, and in 1944, as we celebrate tonight, willdeservedly depend upon whether the party continues on its course and solves those problems.

"And if I have aught to say it will continue on its course and it will solve those probl~ms ....~.tr

"j Inc' is one-third of a nation ill-nourished, ill-clad, ill-housed-NOW!

"J krl' ;He thousands upon thousands of farmers wondering whether next year's prices will meettheir mortgage interest-NOW!

"Here are thousands upon thousands of men and women laboring for long hours in factories forinadequate pay-NOW!

"Here are thousands upon thousands of children who should be at school, working in mines andmills-NOW!

OJ krT ;lIT "trib's nwrl' LH-rl'dching th;m we J\Jve ever known, costing millions of dollars-NOW!

"1 lcT" i;; tilt' Du;;t Bu\\1 bq;inning to bi'1\V again-NUWI

"If we would keep faith with those who had faith in us, if we would make democracy succeed,I say we must act-NOW!"